An Unconventional List of My Transgressions

Once I shared my fears with you and you supported me. As I move toward Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, I thought I would share a list of my transgressions. I know many of you think of me as the sparkly girl, and I am that. But I am other things, too. I am not proud of all of my parts. I am working on being a better me. Each year, a little better. Maybe.

44 responses to “An Unconventional List of My Transgressions”

Wow! A comment at 2 AM EST. I hope you are on the other side of the world. You know, where the sun is shining. ;-) Thank you for your kind words. You get 10 bonus points for being the fastest responder ever.

Rivka! It’s been so long! Wishing you an easy fast as well. I know you will be introspective as we move into 5773!

And yes, I’m on Skype.

Except, I don’t have a computer. It crashed, taking everything with it as I didn’t have an external hard-drive. (Look a few blogs back for the whole miserable story!) but I’m getting all set up today. I hope. 10 am!

You should be able to find me under my name, I think. This icon is attached!

You are too kind. I try to be a teacher, but I’m not in the classroom right now. Some personal things came up, and so I don’t even have that. But I guess I’ll always be a teacher. Even if I don’t have a classroom. ;-)

And if I inspire you? Well, then I am grateful.

You all inspire me to the point of paralysis.

I find there are so many good writers out there, sometimes I just want to close up shop.

Hi Renee, This is like therapy! I read your post earlier and started to type, “I suppose that one thing that I don’t like about myself is [draws a blank].” It’s not that I don’t have any traits that I’d like to change, it’s that, like Lay’s potato chips, I couldn’t come up with just one.

After thinking about it, I’ll go with my temper. Not the ‘I’m going to punch someone in the face’ type of temper, but the type of temper that causes me to cut someone off at the first sign of insincerity. That drives me crazy, so I don’t react to it well. So sure, I’d like to change that by giving people the benefit of the doubt — at least on the first go around.

Renée…. Your list was an open window to some very deep and protected regions of your soul. I am just as touched as I am awed by your willingness and ability to share them with us. Not only did you share them, but you did so in a beautiful way.

“i am eternal summer. too lush and hot and wild.”

“i am too many plates, stacked precariously.” (this says so much)

Some parts of your list made me smile, thinking how similar we feel about what we see as faults, and other parts of your list broke my heart and simply made me want to embrace you.

As for me, my list is large. But since you asked for one thing *sigh of relief*, I’ll put my hand into that particular jar of faults and find something interesting.

I’m so concerned about other people’s problems, emotions, feelings and desires that I completely neglect myself. I hope it doesn’t sound stupid, but it is a problem I have. It’s like the little bit we all here in the airplane, “place the oxygen mask on yourself so you can then take care of others.” One of these days I’m going to find myself without any oxygen – I will crash and burn, no longer able to help anybody else because I refused to take care of my own needs.

Oh Kimmers! You have so many great strengths! But I know what you mean. When I sat down to write this, it was like someone opened a floodgate. One transgression led to another. And even after I pressed publish, I thought of more! Next time I write a poem, I promise something more light!

P.S. This is phenomenal, which made me think, “You are a phenomenal woman,” but I haven’t read that poem in a while so if there’s any subtext there, there’s no subtext there. You are a phenomenal woman. :-)

I would like to see your list in our Yom Kippur prayer book. It would mean more than the ones listed In it that I don’t even know the definition of, let alone whether or not I’ve done it. Or need to repent for it. Anyway, I would like to be less judgemental of others. And less stubborn. And… You can see I have many things that I would lime to change about myself.

The stuff in the prayer book always scares me. All that talk of who will die by fire and who by water. I always freak out a little when I learn I done passes right after Yom Kippur. I always think: Wow, really? It was decided? My husband, of course, thinks this is nuts.

You are hardly stubborn. I think you are really flexible. Funny, the weaknesses we perceive in ourselves. L’shana Tovah, Boots!

This was a very good list, both spiritual and artistic, and showed a lot of thought given to it. As for me, pick any of the Seven Deadly Sins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins) and that’s what I’d like to slough off. We can start with sloth…

Though not a transgression, you forgot to include you are an amazing poet.
As for the parts of me that I’d like to slough off…hmm…the list is long, but disorganized. However, at the top of the heap would be guilt and fear. Yep, I’ve been working on those two for a lifetime.

Embrace The Chaos.

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It’s Me With The Face.

A educator for 20 years, I'm the mother to one teenaged son. In the summer, I wear sundresses & sneakers. And hats. In the winter, I wear snow pants and mittens. And hats. I'm supposed to wear my sparkly glasses, but sometimes I forget. I'm the girl with big ideas and big hair. And words. Always words.

Are Your Hands In My Drawers?

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